Czech defense companies are looking at an upturn in business after a period
of flat demand. And Tatra Trucks is one company that has survived difficult
times and is now looking ahead to meeting orders won in part thanks to its
flexibility in sharing some of the workload with the customer.

Photo: archive of Tatra Trucks
Transfers of know-how and technology and even some of the manufacturing
capacity are part of what it takes these days to land major orders. That
was the case with iconic Czech vehicle producer Tatra when it sought to
land a 4.5 billion crown order to supply transport vehicles to the Saudi
Arabian army.

The order to replace ageing US trucks for the Saudi army was won in part
on Tatra’s twin T-810 and T-815-17 transport vehicle’s ability to deal
with the local desert terrain. But it was also founded on the willingness
to concede to the Saudi government’s stated policy to exercise an ever
greater self-sufficiency in supplying its military needs.

In particular, Tatra accepted the principle of opening a assembly plant
for both trucks in the kingdom to cover part of the three-year order.
Company bosses say the assembly hall for the trucks has now been opened.
Two hundred completed T-810’s should be delivered this year with the
parts dispatched in the third and fourth quarters of the year for a further
100 vehicles to be assembled on site. The pattern of direct deliveries and
local assembly should be repeated for the heavier T-815-17.

Tatra Trucks’ Kopřivnice is currently said to be bustling with Saudi
technicians being trained for the assembly, maintenance, and diagnostics
skills needed for the two Czech trucks. Company instructors will also be on
hand in Saudi Arabia
The Czech company’s sales and manufacturing foothold is expected to
bring its own rewards.

For example, Tatra Trucks is expected to get a look in when the Saudi
Ministry of Defense awards a contract for self-propelled howitzers. Tatra
Trucks already has some basis to build on there with French tank and
transporter producer Nexter Systems is already signed up to manufacture
some of its models using the Tatra chassis.

Tatra Trucks has hopes that the Saudi Arabian formula could be used to win
contracts outside that country as well. It would like to restart
manufacturing and assembly plants in China, where Tatra vehicles were in
the past produced under license before 1989. The new bosses of the Czech
company are also reported to be looking at strengthening possible sales in
Russia, a market that was largely ignored by the previous US owners of the
truck company.

Tatra Trucks was taken over by its new management in March 2013 after the
previous owner, Tatra, filed for insolvency. It is now owned by Czech
businessmen Jaroslav Strnad and René Matera.

In spite of the difficulties, Tatra Trucks produced its highest number of
trucks in 2013 since 2008 with 763 vehicles being completed. Around
two-third of its production is exported. Turnover for last year fell just
short of 3.0 billion crowns, a figure which puts the Saudi order in some
perspective. Tatra Trucks expects to sell around 760 vehicles this year